Jurien Bay sea rescue saves five people as man and daughter swim 9km after yacht sinks
By Natasha Harradine
By James Carmody
Glenn Anderson was plucked from the ocean near Jurien Bay with his 11-year-old daughter Ruby and three others. ( ABC News )
A man who was plucked from the ocean at Jurien Bay in Western Australia with his 11-year-old daughter has told how he was determined the pair would make it to safety.
Key points:
- The yacht ran into trouble in "treacherous" conditions on Sunday
- A man swam towards shore with his daughter after they drifted away from three others in the group
- They were flown to hospital and the others suffered shock and hypothermia
Three other adults were also rescued after the yacht they were all on struck a reef and disintegrated more than 200 kilometres north of Perth about 11.30am on Sunday.
Those three adults were rescued about two-and-a-half hours after an EPIRB strapped to the body of one of the women was activated, when their vessel struck trouble.
It took a further two hours to find Glenn Anderson and his 11-year-old daughter Ruby, who had drifted away from the group.
Speaking at Perth Children's Hospital Mr Anderson recounted the ordeal.
He said the breaking wave that tipped his vessel came seemingly out of nowhere.
"Myself and my daughter Ruby were up in the cockpit and we got knocked out of the boat into the water," he said.
"I hit my head on something on the way down and she broke her leg.
"We came up and I grabbed a hold of her."
Glenn Anderson with daughter Ruby on the ill-fated yacht. ( Supplied )
Mr Anderson said his own injuries were his last concern.
"When she came up, Ruby said 'Dad, your head!' and I said 'Don't worry about that we'll think about that later', and not long after that she said her leg was really sore," he said.
"I was just trying to make sure that I was keeping her head above water to start with, and she wasn't going to die, and I wasn't going to lose her."
"She is a good swimmer but, in the circumstances, I wasn't taking any chances."
The father said he was determined to swim to shore.
"In the back of the mind we were going to get picked up or we were going to make it to the beach," he said.
"One way or the other we were getting out of that water, there was never any thought that I wasn't going to make it, I was just going to keep swimming until I got there.
"I had my child in my arms and just needed to get her to shore and safety.
"There was no way I could give up, stopping was not an option.
"I just kept saying to her, 'We are going to make it'.
"I just kept trying to make sure that she wasn't going to go to sleep … and I could tell she was going hypothermic and was dehydrated.
"Probably in the last half-an-hour to an hour is when she really started going down-hill.
"She seemed a bit delirious … but she was so brave. I'm really proud of her."
Much more than a yacht lost
Mr Anderson said the way the vessel sunk in a matter minutes looked "like something out of a movie".
And he said he lost far more than just the yacht.
"Our nine-month-old puppy, a kelpie named Banjo, unfortunately he was down in one of the cabins when it all happened," he said.
"I also live aboard the boat, so that was also my home and all my possessions going down."
Pair 'not in very good condition'
Jurien Bay Marine Rescue deputy commander Wayne Harston spoke earlier on Monday.
He said Mr Anderson and his daughter had swum about five nautical miles (9.2 kilometres) towards the shore.
The man and his daughter were taken to a Perth hospital by helicopter. ( Twitter: Jurien Bay Police )
"A father and daughter had drifted from the other three and we actually found them [after] someone on the beach actually saw them about 300 metres off Jurien Bay," he said.
"The little girl and the father weren't in a very good condition, they've been taken to hospital in the RAC helicopter."
The three others who had been in the water for a shorter period — a 32-year-old man and two women aged 35 and 32 — were treated for shock and hypothermia.
The distress beacon was detected by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), who sent a Challenger jet to the scene, along with a Department of Fire and Emergency Services helicopter, a private helicopter and marine vessels.
Yacht 'smashed up'
Mr Harston described the conditions as "treacherous", with a strong wind warning at 30-35 knots and a 4- to 5-metre swell.
Jurien Bay Marine Rescue deputy commander Wayne Harston says the yacht "disintegrated". ( ABC News: West Matteussen )
"The yacht must have hit the reef outside of Jurien here and the boat sank," he said.
"It was smashed up, there was lots of debris in the water so the boat actually disintegrated."
Police said it was believed a wave knocked the man and his daughter into the water before a second wave caused it to be swamped, resulting in the three remaining crew members jumping into the ocean.
All five on board the yacht were wearing life jackets.
It is understood the vessel took five minutes to sink from when it was hit by the wave.
The Jurien Bay Marine Rescue vessel was replaced by a bigger boat due to the conditons. ( ABC News: West Matteussen )
Mr Hartson said the weather was so bad, they had been forced to turn back to shore in the marine rescue vessel and board a larger Department of Fisheries boat to continue the search.
He praised all involved in the search, including AMSA and the RAC rescue helicopter.
"We're very lucky we've got a great community here, we had two charter boats out there with us, two cray boats, plus the Fisheries boat," he said.
The yacht was en route from Rottnest Island to Exmouth when it ran into trouble.
IMAGES